Irene and Wendy really didn’t know what to do. This was definitely not something their parents had taught them how to deal with. Yeri’s well-being was Irene’s first priority. She ran over to the girl that was motionless on the floor and checked for a pulse. Yeri was still alive but her pulse was weak and her breathing shallow. That wasn’t even the most surprising part though. The crystal that had exploded upon contact earlier was split into many, many pieces and all of them were lodged, or more accurately seared, into her skin. Blood oozed from a few of the larger pieces, but the stranger thing was that they seemed to give off a faint golden light.

Wendy, on the other hand was eyeing the demon, or rather, demoness. Once Wendy had a clear view of the creature, she realized it looked very human, besides the small forest green horns on her head, and the unnaturally long, albeit pretty, nails. Wendy caught herself wondering if they had nail polish in hell, ‘cause if they did, this girl’s nails had endless artistic possibilities. Upon closer inspection, Wendy realized that the demon was actually quite pretty, at least by human standards. Her caramel coloured hair was long and straight, but it made her face look slim and bright. The colour also contrasted her bright green eyes quite a bit. The demon’s skin was paler than it should’ve been if what Wendy had heard of hell was true, and she was tall enough to put all three of them to shame. She wore a very short black leather dress with matching tall boots that reached above her knees. Clearly fashion trends did not reach hell, because it was quite the indecent outfit for the time.

The demon didn’t make any moves, just looked around with a look of pure curiosity. Her eyes twinkled and a smile rested on her lips, so Wendy guessed her summoning was not so traumatic for her as it was for them. Her eyes scanned over the three girls, first Yeri, then Irene, and lastly Wendy. Her gaze lingered on Wendy a little longer.

“You must be the one who summoned me, though typically velvets aren’t strong enough to summon someone of my rank.” The demon said, directly at Wendy.

Wendy’s mouth fell open and she glanced over towards Yeri. “Someone of your rank? What does that mean?”

The demon laughed. “I am Joy. Though various of your religions refer to me as Lilith, or Lucifer.”

If it had been possible, Wendy’s mouth would’ve been on the floor. “I . . . I’m sorry, there must be some kind of misunderstanding here, I didn’t summon you, Yeri did.” Wendy stammered, pointing towards her unconscious friend.

“That’s not possible, that human has a white aura,” Joy laughed humorlessly.

“It’s true,” Irene piped up, joining Wendy after having put Yeri in herbed and bandaging her arms. “We’re just as clueless as you are. Oh and I’m Irene, that’s Wendy, and the one that’s unconscious is Yeri.” Irene introduced herself and her friends.

“No matter who summoned me, I will not be able to leave for six months according to your time, so you’re stuck with me.” Joy said, looking the two girls in front of her up and down.

“Perhaps you could help us with Yeri. If I shouldn’t even have been able to summon you with my velvet aura, then how the did Yeri do it with a white aura?” Wendy glanced toward her friend again.

“That,” Joy looked interested. “Is something I do not actually have an answer to.”

“Are you even allowed to stay here?” Irene asked, the question more for Wendy than Joy herself.

Wendy shrugged. “We could just keep it a secret.”

“Yeri’s going to freak out when she wakes up. What are we supposed to tell her? Yeah, you have a white aura but managed to summon a top tier demon.” Irene sighed, collapsing onto the nearest bed.

“I bet it has to do with that ring thing.” Wendy wrinkled her nose, sitting next to Irene.

“Ring?” Joy questioned.

“Can we even call it that?” Irene asked Wendy, but continued anyway. “She said that a strange dagger appeared during her assessment, and it changed shapes before ultimately becoming a ring. After she put it on, it became some gauntlett type thing that fused to her skin.”

A strange light filled Joy’s eyes. “Is that so?”

“Do you know what it is?” Wendy asked narrowing her eyes.

“What do you take me for?” Joy smiled. “I’ve only heard of something like this, never seen it in person. Amongst supernatural beings like myself, there are rumors of such an item. An enchanted item almost with a mind of its own. It selects only those who are worthy of its use and shows itself to those selected. Supposedly it makes the user immensely powerful, but there are also unknown side effects. No one’s lived to tell though.”

Both girls paled at the last part.

“Chill,” Joy said, relaxing on the same bed. “I’m sure you’ll figure out. Or she’ll die, that’s possible too.”

“How can you just say that?!” Irene asked, clearly horrified.

“At least it’s the truth?” Wendy couldn’t decide if she was relieved or more stressed from hearing the truth.

“The bigger problem is why it chose your friend even though she clearly has no aura.” Joy peaked at the girl on the other bed. Why would such a thing chose some nobody like that? Clearly there was more than meets the eye, and Joy needed to know. She had always been the strongest female in the underworld, and she wasn’t about to let that slip away to some nobody.

“Either way, it seems as though she has some sort of magical capacity with it attached to her.” Wendy pointed out.

“They’re not correlated though. It latches onto existing magical aptitude and boosts from there. That’s why it’s strange; your friend shouldn’t have any magical ability with a white aura.” Joy shook her head.

“Are you implying that Yeri can use magic without having an aura? Nothing like that has ever been documented,” Irene stared at the demon worriedly.

“Perhaps it’s just that her aura is white.” Joy let her words sink in.

“That should be impossible though. We were taught that white auras had no magical capacity. If Yeri’s aura colour is white that would be false.” Wendy crossed her arms.

“Well, no. It is possible to have a white aura, it’s just only about one in every seven trillion people have it. Thus it’s not fully recognized. To my knowledge the last person to have a white aura was Nefertiti, and you know how long ago that was.” Joy explained.

Irene’s mouth dropped open. “Really? I’m assuming it’s more powerful than metaloid auras then?”

Joy scoffed. “White auras make metalloid auras seem like less than tertiary auras, are you kidding?”

Wendy was about to say something when Yeri groaned in her sleep. Irene rushed over to her and began to shake her. “Yeri? Yeri, can you hear me?!”

Yeri slowly opened her eyes. “Oh, thank god! Wendy! I think Yeri’s finally awake!”

“Irene?” her friend asked softly. “Where am I?”

“I’m so glad you’re okay!!! Do you not remember what happened? I guess that would make sense, you didn’t seem to be conscious. We’re at Umbra.” Irene said.

Before Irene could stop her, Yeri began to sit up. “I wouldn’t recommend—” It was too late, and Yeri screeched in pain.

Then she looked at her arms and saw the bandages and gems poking out, and she couldn’t help but scream, “What the ?!” making Irene wince. That’s when Yeri’s attention landed upon Joy.